Home, Auto of UC-Santa Cruz Vivisectors Set Ablaze No Sanctuary for Animal Abusers

Santa Cruz: The home of one UC Santa Cruz vivisector and the automobile of another were burned early Saturday, in what local authorities are calling attacks by animal liberationists. No communiques claiming the actions have yet been received by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office as of Sunday afternoon. According to a San Jose Mercury News reporter, the automobile of a vivisector whom police refused to name was completely destroyed, while the damage to the home of animal abuser David Feldheim was limited to a door frame and smoke damage. Feldheim is fond of terrorizing and killing mice in his research, which according to his website, involves the "viral introduction of genes into living mouse brains."

The attacks occurred four days after a customer at Caffe Pergolesi, a downtown Santa Cruz coffeehouse, found fliers listing the names, home addresses, home phone numbers and photos of thirteen UC-Santa Cruz vivisectors. Police believe unidentified animal rights activists created the fliers, which were made to appear as "wanted posters." The fliers warned: "Animal abusers everywhere beware; we know where you live; we know where you work; we will never back down until you end your abuse."

The Santa Cruz incidents occurred one day after a mass e-mailing by Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, or SAEN, highlighting what the group called "mounting violations of the animal welfare act" at private labs in Santa Cruz and Berkeley. Police would not say whether there is a connection between the group and Saturday's violence. Santa Cruz police Captain Steve Clark would only say authorities are looking at several animal liberation groups, including SAEN, but have no suspects in Saturday's bombings.

"The pattern and string of attacks has been escalating against the research and science community here as well as at other University of California campuses," Clark said. Vivisectors at the University of California-Berkeley and University of California-Los Angeles also have been targeted, including firebombings in Los Angeles.

Animal Liberation Press Officer Jerry Vlasak, MD states: “UC Santa Cruz may consider themselves an institution of higher education, but they are also an institution of animal torture and killing. Their research is a colossal waste of taxpayer money, and is considered unethical and fraudulent by most physicians interested in research that might help their patients. These animals are terrified and abused beyond belief in these experiments, and this continued depravity by cruel wanna-be scientists simply cannot be justified any longer in a civilized society. This is historically what happens whenever revolutionaries begin to take the oppression and suffering of their fellow beings seriously, whether human or non human. It's regrettable that certain scientists are willing to put their families at risk by choosing to do wasteful animal experiments in this day and age."